AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — Which U.S. cities saw the most people move to – and move away from – in the last year?

Moving and storage company PODS has released its data showing which cities across the country attracted the most new residents and which saw the most people packing up and moving away.

You may have seen the Florida-based company's shipping containers on driveways in your neighborhood. Founded in 1998, the company lets movers fill the PODS with their belongings and then ships them to the new address.

Cities with the most departures

1. Los Angeles, California (ranked 1 in 2023)
2. San Francisco and surrounding areas, Northern California (ranked 2nd in 2023)
3. Greater Miami, South Florida (ranked 5th in 2023)
4. Long Island, New York, serves parts of New York City (ranked 4th in 2023)
5. Austin, Texas (not listed in 2023)
6. Central Jersey, New Jersey (ranked 6th in 2023)
7. Chicago, Illinois (ranked 3rd in 2023)
8. San Diego, California (ranked 14th in 2023)
9. Stockton-Modesto, California (ranked 9th in 2023)
10. Hudson Valley, New York (ranked 11th in 2023)
11. Santa Barbara, California (ranked 10th in 2023)
12. Denver, Colorado (ranked 18th in 2023)
13. Boston, Massachusetts (not listed in 2023)
14. Baltimore, Maryland (ranked 12th in 2023)
15. Hartford, Connecticut (ranked 20th in 2023)
16. Portland, Oregon (not listed in 2023)
17. Fresno, California (not listed in 2023)
18. Bakersfield, California (not listed in 2023)
19. Northern New Jersey, serving parts of New York City (ranked 15th in 2023)
20. Minneapolis, Minnesota (not listed in 2023)

According to PODS data, California has the highest concentration of out-migration of any U.S. state, with seven cities or regions represented in the PODS top 20 rankings.

In Texas, the once-hot Austin market made its first appearance in the PODS rankings. Dwindling affordability and inaccessibility of housing are two of the factors contributing to these declines, according to PODS data. The analysis also suggested that current uncertainty and layoffs in the tech industry – a major industry that moved operations and staff to the Texas capital during the pandemic – may also be making residents hesitant about whether to continue living in Austin.

The moving company also pointed to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau that showed Austin saw a smaller net increase in new residents based on July 2023 estimates.

Census data shows two cities rise on the list of the 15 largest cities in the U.S.

Another Texas city, Houston, is experiencing an influx of new residents. Houston ranks third among cities with the most new residents according to PODS.

Among these rankings, there was a clear trend toward moves to the Carolinas. PODS data found that the cost of living in both states is in line with the national average, while the regions offer beaches, mountains, green spaces and strong metropolitan areas, as well as four-season weather and a strong arts and culture scene.

Cities with the most new arrivals

1. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina (also ranked No. 1 in 2023)
2. Ocala, Florida (ranked 4th in 2023)
3. Houston, Texas (ranked 5th in 2023)
4. Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina (ranked 10th in 2023)
5. Charlotte, North Carolina (ranked 16th in 2023)
6. Raleigh, North Carolina (ranked 20th in 2023)
7. Phoenix, Arizona (ranked 18th in 2023)
8. Knoxville, Tennessee (ranked 7th in 2023)
9. Jacksonville, Florida (8th in 2023)
10. Asheville, North Carolina (ranked 17th in 2023)
11. Boise, Idaho (ranked 15th in 2023)
12. Portland, Maine (ranked 13th in 2023)
13. Nashville, Tennessee (ranked 11th in 2023)
14. Atlanta, Georgia (not listed in 2023)
15. Johnson City, Tennessee (not listed in 2023)
16. Huntsville, Alabama (not listed in 2023)
17. Dover, Delaware (not listed in 2023)
18. Orlando, Florida (3rd place in 2023)
19. Savannah, Georgia (ranked 19th in 2023)
20. Greensboro, North Carolina (not listed in 2023)

More details on PODS analysis can be found online.

The post San Francisco one in every of prime ‘move-out cities,’ in line with PODS shifting firm appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Kelsey Thompson and Jeremy Tanner

1 day ago

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — Which U.S. cities saw the most people move to – and move away from – in the last year?

Moving and storage company PODS has released its data showing which cities across the country attracted the most new residents and which saw the most people packing up and moving away.

You may have seen the Clearwater, Florida-based company's shipping containers on driveways in your neighborhood. Founded in 1998, the company lets movers fill the PODS with their belongings and then ships them to the new address.

Cities with the most departures

1. Los Angeles, California (ranked 1 in 2023)
2. San Francisco and surrounding areas, Northern California (ranked 2nd in 2023)
3. Greater Miami, South Florida (ranked 5th in 2023)
4. Long Island, New York, serves parts of New York City (ranked 4th in 2023)
5. Austin, Texas (not listed in 2023)
6. Central Jersey, New Jersey (ranked 6th in 2023)
7. Chicago, Illinois (ranked 3rd in 2023)
8. San Diego, California (ranked 14th in 2023)
9. Stockton-Modesto, California (ranked 9th in 2023)
10. Hudson Valley, New York (11th in 2023)
11. Santa Barbara, California (ranked 10th in 2023)
12. Denver, Colorado (ranked 18th in 2023)
13. Boston, Massachusetts (not listed in 2023)
14. Baltimore, Maryland (ranked 12th in 2023)
15. Hartford, Connecticut (ranked 20th in 2023)
16. Portland, Oregon (not listed in 2023)
17. Fresno, California (not listed in 2023)
18. Bakersfield, California (not listed in 2023)
19. Northern New Jersey, serving parts of New York City (ranked 15th in 2023)
20. Minneapolis, Minnesota (not listed in 2023)

According to PODS data, California has the highest concentration of out-migration of any U.S. state, with seven cities or regions represented in the PODS top 20 rankings.

In Texas, the once-hot Austin market made its first appearance in the PODS rankings. Dwindling affordability and inaccessibility of housing are two of the factors contributing to these declines, according to PODS data. The analysis also suggested that current uncertainty and layoffs in the tech industry – a major industry that moved operations and staff to the Texas capital during the pandemic – may also be making residents hesitant about whether to continue living in Austin.

The moving company also pointed to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau that showed Austin saw a smaller net increase in new residents based on July 2023 estimates.

Census data shows two cities rise on the list of the 15 largest cities in the U.S.

Another Texas city, Houston, is experiencing an influx of new residents. Houston ranks third among cities with the most new residents according to PODS.

Among these rankings, there was a clear trend toward moves to the Carolinas. PODS data found that the cost of living in both states is in line with the national average, while the regions offer beaches, mountains, green spaces and strong metropolitan areas, as well as four-season weather and a strong arts and culture scene.

Cities with the most new arrivals

1. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina (also ranked No. 1 in 2023)
2. Ocala, Florida (ranked 4th in 2023)
3. Houston, Texas (ranked 5th in 2023)
4. Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina (ranked 10th in 2023)
5. Charlotte, North Carolina (ranked 16th in 2023)
6. Raleigh, North Carolina (ranked 20th in 2023)
7. Phoenix, Arizona (ranked 18th in 2023)
8. Knoxville, Tennessee (ranked 7th in 2023)
9. Jacksonville, Florida (8th in 2023)
10. Asheville, North Carolina (ranked 17th in 2023)
11. Boise, Idaho (ranked 15th in 2023)
12. Portland, Maine (ranked 13th in 2023)
13. Nashville, Tennessee (ranked 11th in 2023)
14. Atlanta, Georgia (not listed in 2023)
15. Johnson City, Tennessee (not listed in 2023)
16. Huntsville, Alabama (not listed in 2023)
17. Dover, Delaware (not listed in 2023)
18. Orlando, Florida (3rd place in 2023)
19. Savannah, Georgia (ranked 19th in 2023)
20. Greensboro, North Carolina (not listed in 2023)

More details on PODS analysis can be found online.

The post San Diego amongst high ‘move-out cities,’ based on PODS shifting firm appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The life of a successful tech founder can often feel luxurious—ritzy, even. But before the multimillion-dollar IPO payouts, the mega-yachts and the Silicon Valley mansions comes the startup grind. And the pods. Just ask Christian Lewis, a 26-year-old from the Chicago suburbs who recently came to San Francisco to chase the AI dragon.  

Last week, Lewis posted on social media that he was “living in a $700/mo pod at Mint Plaza for the next 30 days.” For the uninitiated, the “pod” refers to a group house structured like a pod hotel, a Japanese invention of casket-size sleeping spaces designed to cater to travelers on a budget. 

Lewis posted the pictures for his online friends, he said, but they went viral—extending far outside his immediate network and into the general network of X/Twitter users. Some expressed horror—“you are paying 700/mo to live in a crate like a dog,” one person opined—while others expressed approval (“california gold rush is a durable culture trait unique to san francisco. modern day 49ers. mad respect,” said another).

Lewis said he has already snagged some funding from Silicon Valley investors for his artificial intelligence programming startup, Spellcraft, but he wanted to be closer to where the action is; after all, Mayor London Breed has dubbed San Francisco the AI capital of the world—home to Anthropic, ScaleAI and, of course, ChatGPT maker OpenAI. 

Christian Lewis posted to social media that he was “living in a $700/mo pod at Mint Plaza for the next 30 days” as seen in the inset image. There is a shared living space with a lounge and free utilities, among other amenities, in the spartan residential space. | Source: Courtesy Christian Lewis

“The advantage of being here is too great,” he said.

“I decided to come out for a few weeks, and then when I got here,” he added. “I was like, ‘OK, I’m not gonna leave.’ So I am here until I run out of money.” 

Already, Lewis said he has met “some of the smartest people I’d ever met in my life.”

The average rent for a one-bedroom San Francisco apartment is $3,040 a month, according to Zillow. Staying in a $700-per-month pod, therefore, is a way to live in San Francisco on the cheap, Lewis said, without being locked into a pricey yearlong lease. It’s also, he contends, better than an Airbnb—Lewis says he booked “a dump” of a short-term rental on the platform and found it uninhabitable. (He also would rather not live in a shared apartment with roommates.)

The Mint Plaza pod space evokes a co-op, or a much, much more cramped version of those micro-apartments that have popped up throughout the Bay Area. Comparisons to the Hong Kong-style “coffin homes” are not entirely inaccurate. But in Lewis’ words, it’s a form of “minimalist living” for young, unattached people coming in and out of San Francisco. And Wi-Fi and utilities are included.

“For $700, you have workspaces and an office and a place to sleep, so that’s pretty great,” he said. “It’s downtown.”

‘It’s Not Really That Rough’

Back to the pods: They’re each 4 feet high, 3½ feet wide, and long enough to fit a twin-size mattress. It’s comfortable enough for Lewis, who is 5 foot 9. (Lewis jokes that I should report that he’s an inch taller so that he can boast about it on the dating apps. I do not oblige.)

Lewis advises that I take my sneakers off before he takes me to observe the sleeping pods.

You don’t want to disturb anyone who could be asleep, he explains, as we inch toward the stacks of pods on Thursday afternoon. Each is sheathed with a black curtain as the main mode of privacy. There are about 20 of them, stacked in twos like bunks.

“It’s not really that rough,” he says. “All they really did is shrink down the sleeping space instead of having 50 different rooms, right?”

The pods occupy the top floor of a three-story building that used to be a bank. The company responsible for the development, Brownstone Shared Housing, received international media attention for a similar project in Palo Alto. (One outlet, for example, called the pods “a pricey prison.”) 

“I came here, and it’s really way better than I was led to believe by those articles,” Lewis said.

Building Used to House a Credit Union

About 20 people currently are staying in the pods, Lewis said, a mixture of founders and programmers looking to take advantage of San Francisco’s AI boom, post-graduate students, artists and folks who work in retail and service. One occupant said he holds down two jobs, including one at the nearby Carl’s Jr., and said he likes the place just fine.

Lewis guided me quickly through the common spaces. There were signs that people do live here: Backpacks sat on a couch, and empty cans were left on a coffee table in the main-floor lounge. String lights were hung on what looked like faux-brick walls; it was cozy, all things considered.

Signs of the pod housing’s past life—as an outpost of the San Francisco Fire Credit Union—are still very much present. Bank tellers’ desks have been converted to shared workspaces while a private workroom is shaped just like a manager’s small office. A lounge/storage space on the ground floor, painted white and lit with severe commercial bulbs, has the air of an empty break room; credit union workers probably reheated their lunches in the oven- and stove-less “kitchen” here.

(I was not allowed to take pictures, and some residents, apparently, already had grievances with a reporter visiting their common spaces entirely.) 

Lewis plans on sticking around until his funds run out—he estimates he could be in the pod for about a year. Alternatively, if he and Spellcraft, his startup, make it big, he would consider moving out to an “overpriced apartment.” But a week in, he seemed content with his pod.

“I need quite a jump, really, in all honesty, in order to be able to afford the traditional apartment here.”

READ MORE: San Francisco Begins Investigation Into $700 ‘Pod’ Living Spaces

The post San Francisco Techies Are Dwelling in Small Pods for $700/Month appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The $700-a-month Mint Plaza pods Downtown, currently occupied by a collection of AI founders, techies and other budget-minded tenants, have apparently run afoul of multiple segments of the San Francisco building code.

A week after a case against the property was opened, the Mint Plaza pod hotel received a citation from the Department of Building Inspection Tuesday.

The installation of the sleeping pods on the top floor of the structure violates permitting laws, as it “constitutes an illegal change” from a business-office building with a 50-people maximum capacity to a residential building. The building was previously a location of the San Francisco Fire Credit Union.

Inspectors also found that a basement bathroom was converted from a toilet to a shower stall, another permit violation.

Additionally, the Mint Plaza complex violated a safety clause of the city’s building code. The front door of the unit requires a key to exit, which city inspectors say creates “a life safety issue.” 

Brownstone Shared Housing, which manages the development, or owner Elsey Partners will have to file a change of use permit, a building permit and a plumbing permit to ensure that the pods and the converted shower are above ground. Alternatively, the pods can be removed, and the shower can be turned back into a toilet. 

In order to comply with the code, the lock must be replaced within five days to one that does not require a key to exit. The permit must be filed within 30 days, and all work to address the violations must be completed within 90 days. A failure to resolve the issues could result in fines that ramp up over time, in addition to an existing fine based on the amount of work done without permits.

Last year, Palo Alto officials issued citations for a similar pod residence operated by Brownstone. In a recent interview with the Mountain View Voice, Brownstone co-founders Christina Lennox and James Stallworth asserted that they rectified the violations, and that they anticipated city action against their housing unit.

“We’re not trying to break any laws or anything like that,” Stallworth said. “We’re just trying to house people.”

A representative from Brownstone did not respond to a request for comment. 

This is a developing story.

The post San Francisco Techie Pods That Went Viral Violate Constructing Code appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Something must be shifting with the local economy, and as San Francisco continues to be a hotbed of artificial intelligence innovation, the people moving here for a piece of that gold rush are finding what many of us found coming here in years past: really high rents.

While much media attention has been paid to everyone leaving San Francisco, the reality is that rents still haven’t gotten much cheaper in the last few years — a little, maybe, for new units, but not a lot. And highlighting the fact that tech newcomers are arriving every day to make their AI dreams come true and they’re having sticker shock about rents here, we have a new story from ABC 7 about a new iteration of the sleeping-pod dorms we used to see around the time of the last tech boom.

Now, SFist’s Apartment Sadness column — which came about back during the last tech boom because of the wealth of hilariously awful and hilariously expensive apartments that were popping up for rent on Craigslist — featured its share of pod-type and bunkbed arrangements eight and nine ago. Somebody was even renting out a box truck as a living space, and somebody with a house near Google’s headquarters in Mountain View was renting a tent in their backyard for $965.

Back around 2015 there were literally dozens of listings for communal living situations where someone was making a buck off these newcomers by renting them bunks and packing 13 or 20 people into a three-bedroom apartment. And there were lots of news stories about twentysomethings coming to town and living this neo-commune life, with laptops.

If one thing never changes, it’s the frugality of newly arrived engineers and so-called founders, who are just all about the work and can’t be bothered to, like, have sex or pay for a place where they could bring someone to have said sex. There’s just too much work to do! And why pay $2,000 or $3,000 for an apartment when all you’re going to be doing there is sleeping a few hours?

So, we have a new story — a story that pretends, anyway, that this phenomenon is not just a replay of eight years ago — about a pod-rental outfit that appears to be in the Mission District, renting little sleeping pods for $700 a month.

“The pod is the size of a twin bed. So it’s not very large but it gets the job done. You just need a place to sleep,” says SpellCraft AI founder Christian Lewis, speaking to ABC 7.

Lewis has a pretty familiar story too. He came here from Illinois, he put off coming here because it’s so expensive, but now that he’s here he wants to stay and he’s “met some of the smartest people I’ve met in my entire life.”

Lewis says there are at least 20 people living in this pod palace who are working in the AI space — they don’t give the address, but it appears to be this one in Mint Plaza, which was first proposed in 2021 and which still appears to be seeking permits for a full renovation inside. SF YIMBY reported in July that the firm behind the pod hotel at 12 Mint Plaza, Elsey Partners, wants ultimately to have a full-service, eight-story, Japanese-style pod hotel here with 137 pods and a basement spa.

Rendering of the 12 Mint Plaza pod hotel, at center, courtesy of Elsey Partners

And just as some economists have discussed over the years, the human capital and synergies of places like San Francisco and Boston, surrounded by world-class higher-education institutions as well as great amenities, will likely always have high rents because the supply-and-demand equation is different than in many places.

“Like smart engineers, investors, incubators all that sort of stuff,” Lewis tells ABC 7 of who he’s met here. “There are tons of resources, tons of human capital here. That is why I’m here and why I’m staying here.”

Someone should tell these people that you can, if you’re planning to stay, just go on Craigslist and for a few hundred dollars more find a normal-sized room that can fit an adult-sized bed in any number of neighborhoods around town.

Related: Proposed Mint Plaza ‘Pod Hotel’ Hits a Snag, as Rival Pod Hotel Group Claims Trademark Infringement

All previous editions of Apartment Sadness

The post ‘Founders’ Are Transferring to SF and Residing In Sleeping Pods Once more appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

New data from Clearwater-based moving and storage company PODS suggests people are moving to Central Florida in droves.

The company recently analyzed data from nearly half a million moves during 2021 and early 2022, and determined that the No. 1 destination for PODS customers, in terms of more people moving in than out, was the Sarasota area. Tampa Bay came in at No. 4, Ocala at No. 5 and Orlando at No. 9.

Sarasota and Ocala ranked high on the same list last year, but Tampa Bay and Orlando are newcomers. Jacksonville (No. 11) and Melbourne (No. 15) also made this year’s list.

Related: Tampa Bay, Gulf Coast cities lead America’s ’emerging housing markets’

While Florida’s cost of living is on the rise, the PODS study pointed out that it’s still generally lower than in places like New York or San Francisco, and the lack of a state income tax adds to the appeal. The study also drew a connection between remote work and retirees, as some workers might be looking to relocate closer to their aging parents.

Filling out the top 10 destinations: Dallas-Fort Worth (No. 2), Nashville (No. 3), Myrtle Beach-Wilmington, SC (No. 6), Knoxville, Tenn. (No. 7), Atlanta (No. 8) and Phoenix (No. 10).

Where are those movers coming from? According to PODS, the top 10 sites where more people are moving from than to are, in order: Los Angeles; the San Francisco bay area; Chicago; Long Island, NY; Central New Jersey; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; Stockton-Modesto, Calif.; Hudson Valley, NY; and Philadelphia.

The post Everybody’s shifting to Tampa Bay and Central Florida, PODS says appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.